Kukla's Korner Hockey

The NHL says it has reviewed the incident and, as far as the league is concerned, the case is closed.
“We were made aware of the situation right after the game in question,” NHL executive vice president Colin Campbell told TSN. “We investigated it, talked with the officials and both teams and we determined there were no grounds to pursue it any further. It’s a closed matter as far as we are concerned. We don’t have to respond to what’s in today’s newspapers because we’ve already responded to it.”...
Lundqvist told reporters on Wednesday before learning of the allegations that he prefers to remain in the crease to maintain concentration during breaks.

But the Stanley Cup he won in 1997, and the two that followed in 1998 and 2002, certainly didn’t hurt Yzerman’s Hall of Fame-worthy resume.
In fact, those titles most likely turned a quiet star and exceptional leader in Detroit into an international hockey icon. Even Yzerman acknowledges the role those championships play in the perceptions about him.
“If you play well and win, you’re a heck of a leader,” he once said. “You don’t win, you’re an OK leader. If you don’t play well and you don’t win, you’re a lousy leader.”

Those potentially on the hot seat:
Dave Tippett, Dallas Stars
Probability of getting the ax: Medium to high.
• You have to believe Tippett has to get the Stars out of the first round to hang on to his job. He has had three seasons to get this club back to the level it was at during the Ken Hitchcock years, and—despite very good regular-season results—Dallas has been unable to make big noise in the postseason.

The Thrashers have never played a postseason game. That changes next week. The NHL playoffs are different from the NBA’s. Any team that gets in has a realistic (as opposed to a theoretical) chance to play for the Cup. The Thrashers could surprise everyone and be playing not just next week but next month.
If that happens, Atlanta will tune in. This is, as we know, a bandwagon city. But I’m guessing the first round will get little attention from the masses because the bandwagon hasn’t really budged

Someone at 1251 Avenue of the Americas deserves a raise. And it ain’t Bettman. It’s the ingenious pencil pusher on the 47th floor responsible for scheduling the regular season. Have you taken a look at what’s happening in the East? What foresight! Who did that guy sell his soul to?
If some underpaid gofer ran a computer program last spring to generate the matches to be played out tonight and Saturday, I don’t want to know about it. Especially if it was some snot-nosed Ivy Leaguer out of Cornell. I want to believe the scheduler is a butterball of a man with a combover and horn-rimmed glasses who looks like he should be a cog in the wheel of Mission Control circa 1972 rather than sitting in a Manhattan skyscraper.

Some of you may know NHL teams will be undergoing a website transistion for next year.
The Hurricanes have started and all of the teams will have this basic format by the start of next season.
What do you think?

In fact, it’s no stretch to say you could take any playoff-bound Western Conference team and make a very good case for them to start quizzing civic authorities about ideal championship parade routes.
In Vancouver, Roberto Luongo has been so dominant and Hart-worthy, he’s on the verge of being canonized as the patron saint of puck-stopping. In Calgary, Miikka Kiprusoff is rounding into form at just the right time. In Minnesota, Marian Gaborik is converting cynics into sycophants since returning from injury.

The extra work has paid huge dividends for Huselius and the Flames. Heading into tonight’s crucial game in San Jose, the left winger has obliterated his previous NHL career highs with 33 goals and 43 assists in 78 games.
Toss in the fact he’s been flagged with only 26 penalty minutes and it’s understandable why the Flames believe they have a legitimate Lady Byng Memorial Trophy.
The team will soon be handing out packages to the media stating his case.
“I’ve heard people talking about it but I don’t know what to say,” said the mild-mannered Huselius. “It’s an honour to be mentioned in that category.”

“We treated our fans to some of the best hockey they’ve seen in well over a decade last year, and this year we’ve rebounded with probably the worst hockey they’ve had in over a decade. We just have to find a little balance.”
The search begins right now and, judging from what he’s seen over the last 18 games, Lowe will need a bigger shopping basket than he originally anticipated. Management said they’d learn a lot about their players during this stretch, and they have. But much of it isn’t very good.
“We have, in our minds, a clearer picture of how we see our team coming together next season, what holes we need to fill, besides the obvious ones.”

Selanne was called for using an illegal stick, which nullified the four-on-three advantage. The Ducks couldn’t score in overtime and San Jose put in both of its tries in the shootout to get a 3-2 victory at Honda Center….
Selanne said he was surprised by Wilson’s maneuver. He acknowledged the illegality but also blamed the poor ice surface.
“It might be a little wide. But there’s a reason why it’s wide. That’s because the NHL makes great ice and you need a stick this wide to receive a pass in this league,” Selanne said sarcastically.
As he said that, Selanne held his hands a foot apart. Ducks Coach Randy Carlyle sought to shift the blame away from his star winger.